Homelessness: Seattle’s lax rules set bad example

What has happened to our values when cities like Seattle grant unlimited rights of housing to homeless individuals who do not build according to code and don’t pay taxes on properties they have squatted upon?

Their presence makes locations less desirable for those who live in buildings built to code and who pay taxes on it.

If anyone tried to live like that in Tacoma’s North Slope Historic District, neighbors would demand the city do something about the property.

Seattle has allowed the problem of homeless encampments to consume the neighborhood surrounding the Space Needle. This is hardly a low-rent district for home owners.

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A 600 square-foot condominium easily sells for $500,000, taxes are $6,000 annually, while on the nearest street corner, homeless people live rent free and flaunt the fact they aren’t going anywhere, even roasting steaks and shrimp on their grills.

I do not suggest we turn our backs on the homeless, but I also do not feel they deserve some of the best addresses.